Location:
Spain
Coordinates:
37.6058, -0.9903
Events at Cartagena (9)
227 BC
ID: 5321
Carthaginians develop Cartagena silver mines - Hasdrubal founds New Carthage near richest silver deposits in Mediterranean, 40,000 slaves at peak
ID: 5321
218 BC
ID: 5322
Spanish silver funds Hannibal's war - Cartagena mines produce 300 pounds silver daily, financing invasion of Italy
ID: 5322
206 BC
ID: 5323
Scipio captures Cartagena mines - Romans seize Spanish silver mines, immediately restart production with 40,000 workers
ID: 5323
195 BC
ID: 5324
Rome reorganizes Spanish mining - establishes state monopoly, mines produce 25,000 drachmas daily according to Polybius
ID: 5324
140 BC
ID: 5347
Diodorus Siculus describes mine horrors - children carry ore through tunnels, prisoners worked to death, bodies left where they fall
ID: 5347
100 BC
ID: 5326
Slave uprising at Spanish mines - thousands of mining slaves revolt, suppressed brutally, Diodorus describes horrific conditions
ID: 5326
130
ID: 5356
Slave children in Spanish mines - boys as young as 7 carry ore baskets, life expectancy under 25 years, no daylight for months
ID: 5356
200
ID: 5360
Peak Roman mining employment - estimated 100,000+ slaves and workers in Spanish mines alone, millions empire-wide
ID: 5360
350
ID: 5343
Decline of Roman mining - barbarian invasions disrupt operations, sophisticated drainage and extraction technology lost
ID: 5343